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NYU Lose Smart Challenge

Prizes, Fun, and Fitness

Have you made a resolution in 2015 to live a healthier lifestyle? To exercise, eat right, and lose weight? To help you achieve your goals, we invite you to join colleagues in a work-friendly weight loss competition – NYU’s Lose Smart Challenge, back by popular demand!

NYU Lose Smart is a two-month long weight-loss challenge offered through NYU’s LiveSmart wellness program. Similar to NBC’s Biggest Loser, the contest helps motivate and encourage participants to achieve their weight loss goals with the support of colleagues.

To participate, register and then weigh-in on select dates (see 2015 Challenge Rules, below) over eight weeks. To help you stay on track, enjoy a free February gym membership at your registered weigh-in location, take advantage of a custom NYU exercise class, and try other LiveSmart wellness activities and weight loss resources.

The participants who lose the highest percentage of their original weigh-in weight win the grand prize. Fitness wristbands will be given to the top male and the top female participant. The top ten weigh-in winners and participants who demonstrate perfect weigh-in attendance will receive a Whole Foods gift card. Bonus prizes, provided by New York Sports Club, will also be awarded weekly.

2015 Challenge Rules

Register for LVS 277 on NYUiLearn by Sunday, February 1 for one of two New York Sports Club locations listed below.

Weigh-in each Tuesday beginning with the initial February 3 weigh-in through March 31 at your designated location, either 232 Mercer Street from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm or 10 Irving Place from 4:00 to 5:15 pm. You must weigh-in a minimum of seven weeks over the eight-week program. You need not be a member of New York Sports Club to weigh-in or participate in the contest.

The grand prize winners of the Lose Smart Challenge will be the registered participants who lose the highest percentage of their original weigh-in weight between February 3 and March 31, 2015. In case of a tie, the person who has lost the most weight will be deemed the winner. One grand prize, a fitness wristband, will be awarded to the top male and the top female participants. Weekly prizes, provided by New York Sports Club, will be awarded to the participant who loses the highest percentage of weight for that week. You must have a weigh-in the prior week to qualify for the weekly prize. Only one weigh-in per week is permitted.

Comments from Participants

Dear LiveSmart,

Thanks so much! I can't believe that I made the Top Ten! I've taken part in the "Lose Smart" Challenge for the past few years, but this was by far the best one.

Dear LiveSmart,

Thank you very much for organizing this challenge. I really appreciated the program, especially the partnership with DavidBartonGym. Because of this challenge and the free month membership, I became a member and am very excited about the classes and training sessions I've done there. And even though I didn't lose as much weight as I had hoped, I did get healthier, stronger and fitter as a result of this challenge.

Dear LiveSmart,

I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. I never once made the Top Ten Weekly list, nor am I in the running for any accolades. However, the challenge gave me much more… during the eight weeks I dropped 4 sizes. Most important, I have made a life style change by going to the gym and making healthier food choices. I feel so much better and I owe it to the Livesmart program. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (Please keep up the good work!)

Dear LiveSmart,

Thanks so much for the Weight Loss Challenge program. Through it I was able to arrest winter weight gain and get a good start on Spring weight loss. The regular weigh-ins helped me stay on track on the weekends and I was even lucky enough to make the Top 10 list a couple of times. The social aspects of the program are terrific. It deepened my social connections with colleagues and gave me a reason to reach out whether to congratulate or make a walking date. Since my spouse and I both work here, it was a good opportunity to help each other in the same ways (and weighs!) :-) Thanks again!

Dear LiveSmart,

I am so excited to have lost so much weight between this year and last. Thank you for the opportunity!

Dear LiveSmart,

Thanks to one and all for organizing the spring weight-loss program. It was a great success, and I am glad to report that I reached my goal and have set new ones. I'm also happy to say that the program brought me together with three colleagues in Tisch Drama. We enjoyed cheering each other on, and will celebrate our successes together as a group. Again, many thanks.

English Peas – Remove Peas from pods and blanch in boiling water, then shock in ice water

Asparagus – cut into 1” long pieces, blanch in boiling water then shock in ice water

Yellow Wax Beans – Snip stem end, cut into 1” bias cut

Reserve all vegetables for sautéing

Romesco Sauce

Take the bread and submerge in cold water, allow to soften, then squeeze out all the water. In a bowl or a food processor, combine bread, tomatoes, garlic, sherry vinegar, parsley, and almonds. Season with salt and pepper and puree ingredients. Slowly drizzle olive oil to create an emulsion. Reserve sauce in refrigerator until plating.

In a sauté pan, sauté vegetables and season with salt and pepper.

In another sauté pan, on medium high heat, put 2Tbsp oil, allow to slightly smoke and place fish skin side down. Cook for around 2 mins, then flip for an additional 2 mins.

Plating

Place Sautéed Vegetables in center of plate, Fish on top, and Spoon sauce around

Add Halibut and sear on both sides making sure to deeply caramelize. Place fish in metal pan and cook for 7-10 minutes to finish.

Place Bok Choy in water to heat. Remove and place in hot sauté pan with olive oil to brown. This may be done on Flat top.

Add miso to sauté pan used to sear halibut. Add carrots and edamame, and reduce
slightly with butter.

Mound Rice in center of plate

Place Bok Choy over rice

Place Halibut over mound of rice

Spoon Miso Glaze over Halibut and between each piece of bok choy making sure to distribute pieces of carrot and edamame throughout dish. Garnish with chives over halibut

**Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean, harvested at the peak of ripening right before it reaches the "hardening" time. The word Edamame means "Beans on Branches," and it grows in clusters on bushy branches. To retain the freshness and its natural flavor, it is parboiled and quick-frozen. In East Asia, the soybean has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of protein. Edamame is consumed as a snack, a vegetable dish, used in soups or processed into sweets. As a snack, the pods are lightly boiled in salted water, and then the seeds are squeezed directly from the pods into the mouth with the fingers.

Use soy milk in place of low fat milk, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries any fruit you like dried , fresh or frozen may replace the blackberries, dark honey may replace the agave nectar, and walnuts. High in Omega 3’s may replace the pecans.

Cooking Instructions:

Combine milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes. Stir in blackberries and cinnamon; transfer to four bowls and top with pecans. Drizzle 1 teaspoon agave nectar over each serving. For more details and nutrition information, click here.

Drain and allow cooling at room temperature (do not use water to cool pasta)

In a separate sauté pan place olive oil and allow to heat, add onions, garlic and Roma tomatoes

Allow to cook, until onions become translucent (about 10 minutes)

Add tomato paste, and pasta and allow to cook a further 5 minutes add chiffonade of Basil during the last minute of cooking and serve

Tip: The longer basil cooks the more bitter it becomes.

Healthy note: Once fresh tomatoes are cooked they release Lutein, an amino acid associated with good eye sight.

Bit of History: Fresh basil was used in Roman times and is of the mint family called, Ocimum basilicum. It is also a powerful antioxidant. It’s medicinal qualities have been known in Asia for thousands of years, and it is cultivated in 123 different varieties.